Otago Southland Branch - New Zealand Psychological Society

03/09/2025

From Linda Buzzell-Saltzman in Climate Psychology Discussion Group
An exciting new book for mental health clinicians and educators is PRESCRIBING NATURE: A CLINICIAN'S GUIDE TO ECOTHERAPY by Patricia H. Hasbach, Ph.D., published by Norton Professional Books and now available for pre-order. It offers a wonderful, comprehensive and practical guide to the rapidly-growing field of nature-based healing and belongs on every mental health clinician's bookshelf!
https://www.amazon.com/Prescribi.../dp/1324053666/ref=sr_1_1?

03/08/2025

Kia ora

The NZPsS Otago/Southland Branch AGM will be held:

Monday 4th August 2024 @ 12.15pm.
Venue: Psychological Medicine, Dunedin Hospital Room 205
Zoom will be available by request

Nominations for Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer are welcome.

Best wishes

Bill Gilmore, Chairperson

11/06/2025

This will be of interest to those working with children and teenagers.

This report examines the psychological impact of climate change education on primary age children, arguing that the current approach is cognitively inappropriate and ethically questionable. It calls for a shift toward developmentally appropriate, psychologically safe and empowering environmental edu...

08/04/2025

Your perception and reality are not always aligned.

Note: Yes, light plays a role in color, but this effect is about more than just color. It involves how neighboring receptive fields influence one another, as well as adaptation phenomena in neurons. Visual illusions have taught us a lot about how the neural retina and visual system work.

28/03/2025

I still see a spiral 🤣

19/12/2024

We are saddened to hear of the death of our friend and colleague, Dr Damian Scarf, Associate Professor at Otago.
You will be missed incredibly by your students, former students, research collaborators and colleagues in psychology. RIP Damian..

From the New Zealand Psychological Society ...

Kia ora koutou,

It is with immense sadness that we heard of Associate Professor Damian Scarf’s passing overnight. Damian is a keen rugby player who also happened to be a social psychology researcher at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka. His expertise in social identity and belonging, youth mental health, alcohol consumption, and anti-racism was highly regarded. He was awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2019 for ‘The Belonging Project’ and is a key researcher for the MBIE-funded Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) research programme. He is passionate about promoting social justice and worked on equity-based projects to increase the representation of minoritised groups in health professional programmes (A Mirror on Society) and address institutional racism. He is well-loved by his students, who remember him as a supervisor who would go above and beyond to create opportunities for them in different paths of psychology. In 2024, he was an integral part of the WERO research group that published a report highlighting the myriad forms of racism and oppression in the training and workplaces of psychology. We will remember him as a strong advocate for a Te Tiriti-inspired psychology that truly represents Aotearoa’s past, present and future. Recently, Damian attended the tangihanga for matua Angus and helped prepare Matua’s house to welcome Sonja and her family. These small acts of manaakitanga exemplify the type of person Damian is.

Kia au te moe e te rangatira. Kua hiki te mamae.

Moe mai, moe mai.

Waikaremoana Waitoki and Kyle Tan

16/12/2024

🥳 CONGRATULATIONS 🥳 to the following winners of University of Otago Psychology Academic Prizes in 2024. These students had the highest overall academic standings across their Psychology 100, 200, 300, or 400-level papers. Ka rawe! 🤩

Janet Ferguson Memorial Prize (PSYC100):
Emma McCusker

Dostoevsky Prize For Psychology (PSYC200):
Andy Heathcote

G. V. Goddard Prize in 300 level Psychology:
Connor Nicholls

T. P. H. McKellar Prize (PSYC400):
Guantian Chen

27/11/2024

14/05/2024

Follow the link in this notice to find other Psychology Week events around the country... including live-streaming and posted recordings.

Psychology Week 2024 is here! This week is an opportunity to celebrate the amazing work that psychologists do - in health, education, criminal justice, counseling, social justice, coaching, supporting organisations and more! Check out all of our events on our event tab here, or on our website: https://www.psychology.org.nz/public/psychology-week

09/05/2024

The Otago & Southland Branch of the New Zealand Psychological Society is hosting a public event on Tuesday 14 May at 5.30 pm. with three speakers. The theme is 'Peace and Possibilities'.

No charge for entry.

18/04/2024

Psychology Week 2024 is just 3 weeks away!
We are busy pulling together the final details of events, so keep an eye out here and on our website, for all the info! https://www.psychology.org.nz/public/psychology-week

Psychology and psychologists play an important role in supporting people, families, organisations and communities to find or create their path to peace and wellbeing, and we are looking forward to sharing examples of this with you in mid May!